COSATU Today, 9 February 2012
Patrick Craven
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Our side of the story
Thursday 9 February 2012
Contents
Ø COSATU condemns Seardel group closures
Ø City of Cape Town loses Metro Police Appeal
Ø COSATU Gauteng press statement on mass dismissal of Gautrain bus drivers
Ø COSATU Northern Cape Provincial Executive Committee statement
Ø Decisions of COSATU Mpumalanga Provincial Executive Committee
Ø ANC’s Nationalisation Report
Ø COSATU welcomes WFTU to South Africa
Ø The fight against the Secrecy Bill is not over!
Workers
COSATU condemns Seardel group closures
Tony Ehrenreich, COSATU W Cape Provincial Secretary, 9 February 2012
COSATU is outraged by the announcement of the Seardel group threatening to close a number of companies that would effectively put hundreds of workers out of a job. These workers are in many instances single parents from the townships, whose family depends on their income.
Seardel as a group has taken millions of rand from government programmes to shore up their company and they were meant to restructure the operations and make it more effective .The money seems to have been pocketed as the cars and bonuses of directors are as extravagant as always and the companies are still struggling.
COSATU calls on the unions and the workers to resist the attempts to close the companies, and COSATU will do all it can to assist them in this process. Often companies who manufacture here close down there companies and then import the products from China and they just sew the Proudly SA label into the clothing. This gives them a chance to sell cheap Chinese imports and make super profits.
The consumers also have a role in saving SA companies. If they buy SA products they should check that it has the Proudly South African label on the clothes. We know that there are allegations that the unions are involved and we refute this as being untrue, the unions have invested their investments to save the Seardel group.
City of Cape Town loses Metro Police Appeal
Tahir Sema, SAMWU National Media and Publicity Officer, 9 February 2012
The City of Cape Town on Tuesday this week lost their appeal to the Labour Appeal Court in the metro police disciplinary matter.
“In 2007 metro police officers went along the N2 to hand over a memorandum to the then Mayor, Helen Zille, concerning their grievances. Following that action the city wanted to discipline staff according to an abridged disciplinary procedure which was not in compliance with the National agreement. The South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) successfully interdicted the city and it is that judgment the city appealed against” said Mario Jacobs, SAMWU Cape Metro Regional Secretary.
The labour Appeal Court (LAC) Judgment, delivered by the Judge President of the Labour Court, Dunstan Mlambo, commented that “The appeal is clearly misconceived and must fail”.
More strikingly is the fact that the city complied with the Labour Court ruling which made their appeal application academic. The LAC ruled that, on that basis alone, the city’s application had to be dismissed. The Appeal Court also ordered the city to pay the cost of their court application. Jacobs said that this amounts to a few hundred Thousand Rand which could have been used to deliver much needed services.
“The ruling of the Labour Appeal Court confirms the correctness of the position taken by SAMWU. It further confirms that collective agreements are binding on the parties thereto and must as such be respected” said Jacobs
COSATU Gauteng press statement on mass dismissal of Gautrain bus drivers
Dumisani Dakile, COSATU Gauteng Provincial Secretary, 9 February 2012
COSATU in Gauteng has observed with serious concern the dismissal of about three hundred bus drivers by the Gautrain. We have noted that these dismissals are taking place when there is a serious challenge of unemployment, poverty and inequalities and the economic outlook of the world is very bleak.
We will be seeking an urgent meeting with the management of the company in an attempt to find a lasting solution to the impasse between them and the workers.
The workers have a genuine problem about their working conditions which needs to be addressed and attended to by management, instead of resorting to dismissal. Dismissing workers without attending to the causes of the strikes with not help or assist the situation.
We hence call upon both the government and management of Gautrain to urgently come to the table to resolve the problem. COSATU in Gauteng has already approached both management and the company for a meeting to resolve the matter.
COSATU Northern Cape Provincial Executive Committee statement
Anele Gxoyiya, COSATU N Cape Provincial Secretary, 8 February 2012
COSATU in the Northern Cape held the first meeting of the Provincial Executive Committee meeting from 6-7 February 2011 in Kimberley. The PEC which was attended by representatives from the affiliates of COSATU discussed the following issues:
· Political
· Organisational
· Socio-economic
· International
The PEC was also addressed by the MEC for Health on the challenges facing the health department in the province as per our decision to invite the different MECs to give the PEC briefings on the programmes of the different departments. After extensive deliberations the PEC took the following decisions in line with the COSATU programme of action.
1. ON POLITICAL ISSUES
· We condemn the statement of the national chairperson of the NYDA wherein he called for the banning of trade unions in education. This shows the shallow understanding of trade unions, for the teachers are workers in their own right and have a constitutional right to belong to trade unions of their choice
· We will never allow any form of counter-revolution to derail our unions from our programme of fighting for the emancipation of the working class from the triple crisis of poverty, unemployment and inequalities. Andile must just concentrate in his own challenges that are facing him which are not concerning the federation and leave COSATU affiliates alone
· The by-election of Strydenburg where the ANC lost to an independent candidate who was supported by the opposition parties is a cause for concern to us. We need to meet in an alliance ten-a-side as soon as possible to develop a strategy to defend the ANC gains in the province
· We advise the Premier of the Northern Cape to desist from pulling the cabinet to court when the MEC for Economic Development and Finance appears in court on charges that are not related to his work as the MEC. If she indeed respects the rule of law she must refrain from that behaviour as it portrays her as someone who does not respect an institution of the same government that she is serving
· This is setting a precedent that they will never be able to sustain, as public servants can also do the same if one of them is appearing in court for any allegations of crime. If they so wish to leave their posts during the case, let them do so by taking unpaid leave so that an acting cabinet can be appointed to continue with government work
· The federation takes offence in the use of our slogan “An injury to one is an injury to all” by any of our alliance partners in inappropriate platforms as this seeks to vulgarize the COSATU slogan
· We will call for a bilateral with the ANC in the next two weeks to make an assessment of the performance of the current provincial government as well as progress on the implementation of the resolutions of the Alliance Summit and the Alliance Economic Summit
· We view the calls for the reshuffling of the cabinet as opportunistic and smacking of malice, since there has been no proper assessment made at any level to come to that conclusion
· We will engage the SACP on the common programme for mobilisation of the working class masses on the ground
· It is critical for us to have a strong and functional SANCO on the ground so as to avoid the emergence of opportunists who masquerade as representatives against the ANC government. We will meet with the leadership of SANCO in the province to make an assessment of the state of the organisation and chart the way forward
· We call on all the members of the alliance to be loyal to the organisational principles and not to individuals, and to maintain high levels of discipline
· COSATU is a fearless voice of the voiceless and we have always led our campaigns successfully without those that are opposed to the ANC leadership
· We will fight corruption at all fronts without the help of the opposition. As much as we will never lobby the opposition, we don’t want the opposition to lobby us
2. ON ORGANISATIONAL ISSUES
· COSATU in the Northern Cape is united and all affiliates speak with one voice. We condemn the mischievous faceless people who pose as concerned members of COSATU affiliates and seek to score cheap political scores
· We call on the media to be careful of being used by faceless people to sow divisions within the federation because we will not allow that to happen
· COSATU in the Northern Cape is growing from strength to strength despite the challenges that are faced by a few of our affiliates
· There is a need for the affiliates to intensify membership service and embark on an extensive recruitment campaigns
· We will engage the Departments of Labour and of Agriculture about the joint visits to the farms to look at the conditions of farm workers
· We will embark on mass trade union and political education through our Provincial Educators and/or Organisers between May and June 2012
· The membership of the affiliates continues to fluctuate as a result of outsourcing and privatization as well as retrenchments
3. ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES
· We welcome the recent launch of Corruption Watch as an important and progressive achievement in the history of the working class
· We are confident that this initiative will go a long way in intensifying our fight against corruption
· We reaffirm our call for the provincial government to stop outsourcing and privatising public services as this is a fertile breeding ground for corruption
· Our view is that given a chance the state will have the capacity to deliver services at a cheaper cost as there will be no profit maximisation and that will help to create decent jobs
· We are of the firm view that those that are delaying the implementation of the Alliance Summit resolution on outsourcing and privatization are the beneficiaries from the tenders that they continue to issue
· All COSATU affiliates are geared up and ready to take to the streets on 7 March 2011 during the national strike against labour broking and e-tolling
· We will march to the Department of Labour and to the Premier’s office and we hope that the Premier will avail herself to receive the memorandum this time around
· We welcome the takeover of the fleet management by the Provincial Government as a step in the right direction; however we are concerned at the location of the function to the Department of Public Works it is a transport function. Our view is that fleet management is the competency of the department of Transport, Safety and Liaison
· We are committed to the implementation of the Basic Education Accord and call on all the members of COSATU to participate in the forthcoming elections of School Governing Bodies and avail themselves for elections
· All workers who are parents must play a meaningful role in the education of their children through being involved in school activities as parents
· We note the decline in matric results and commit ourselves to helping the Department of Education to achieve better results through our involvement in our children’s education
· Despite the decline there are learners who performed exceptionally well and we congratulate them on their achievements and wish them well in their future endeavours
· The influx of working class children to tertiary institutions leading to stampedes in some instances has led to the death of a parent earlier this year. We convey our sympathy to the family of that parent
· We are of the view that such incidents will be reduced when the Northern Cape gets our own university and we call for the speeding up of the process of establishing a fully fledged university in the province
4. INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
· We reaffirm our support for the people of Somalia and the affiliates are going back to the members to raise funds and collect clothes and food for donation at the end of March 2012
· The Situation in Somalia is a direct result of the effects of climate change and we call on the workers to support initiatives that seek to keep our environment clean
· We note the recent tight contest for the position of Chairperson of the African Union and we hope that South Africa will mobilize enough support to win the elections
Decisions of COSATU Mpumalanga Provincial Executive Committee
Fidel Mlombo, COSATU Mpumalanga Provincial Secretary, 7 February 2012
INTRODUCTION
COSATU in Mpumalanga held a very successful Provincial Executive Committee meeting on 2-3 February 2012 attended by the majority of affiliates and COSATU locals. The Provincial Executive Committee meeting discussed amongst others the following:-
DEVELOPMENTS IN CUBA
The PEC discussed the development in Cuba and welcomed the convening of the first national conference of the Communist Party of Cuba under the leadership of President Raul Castro the brother of comrade Fidel Castro.
The PEC noted and acknowledged that Cuba has always been a beacon of hope and the glue that held all peace-loving people and organisations across the globe, that there is an alternative to the evil system of capitalism and that a better world is possible.
ON THE MPUMALANGA MATRIC IMPROVED RESULTS
The PEC welcomed, appreciated and congratulated the matric class of 2011 for their dedication, hard work and commitment for the improved Mpumalanga matric pass rate from 56,8% in 2010 to 64,8% in 2011.
The PEC further congratulated and commended the teachers organised under the South African Democratic Teacher Union (SADTU) for their tremendous work, commitment and sacrifices to produce these substantial increase in the Provincial pass rate.
The PEC however noted the disparities and structural inequalities that still define and characterise our education system in the country and in the province. After seventeen years of democracy the historically disadvantaged schools are still characterised by overcrowding, lack of learning and teaching materials and poor infrastructure, while the former model C schools are well resourced.
The PEC vowed to collaborate and participate in all initiatives aimed at further improving the quality of education in the province.
ON THE BOOING OF BOTH COSATU AND SACP LEADERS IN THE ANC PROVINCIAL GENERAL COUNCIL MEETING
The PEC noted with disbelief and regret the howling and booing of both the COSATU and SACP Provincial Secretaries during the ANC PGC held on 10-11 December 2011 at the Elijah Mango College of Education for speaking out against corruption.
The PEC commended the COSATU Provincial Office Bearers in the manner they have handled this matter.
ON THE ANC PROVINCIAL CONGRESS
The PEC received a comprehensive report on the developments regarding the ANC Provincial Congress in Mpumalanga.
The PEC reaffirmed its position on this matter based on COSATU previous decisions which are as follows:-
The PEC appreciated that it is correct for workers to always be vigilant about the direction and posture of the ANC because the ANC is a disciplined force of the left that is expected to always be biased to the working class and the poor.
· To defend the ANC leadership elected at Polokwane and all the ANC resolutions that emerged from Polokwane.
· To defend our glorious movement, the ANC from the New Tendency whose agenda is self-enrichment through corruption, greed and crass materialism.
· To strive for a leadership that will be committed to forge the unity of the ANC in the Province.
· To strive for a leadership that will be committed to fight against corruption in the Province.
· To strive for a leadership that will be committed to asserting the hegemonic position of the working class as the primary motive force.
· To strive for a leadership that has a struggle record and are politically experienced
The PEC further appreciated:
· The cohesion among progressive structures in the province on this matter.
· The collaboration and possible merger of the two progressive groupings within the ANC in the province on this matter
· The confidence and respect COSATU commands among the progressive structures in the province.
Guided by the COSATU principles the PEC further mandated the COSATU POBs to engage with the following structures and emerge with a leadership collective that will be accommodative to the working class and the poor:
· All those who support the Polokwane agenda and its leadership
· All progressive structures in the province.
· All coalitions that are prepared to work with COSATU as the advanced detachment of the working class.
N.B. COSATU in the province will always maintain its status of being the moral compass and a fearless spokesperson of the most downtrodden.
ON THE COSATU PROVINCIAL CONGRESS
The PEC reaffirmed its previous decision to hold the Provincial Congress on 19-20 July 2012 at the TUT eMalahleni Campus.
The PEC endorsed 28 February 2012 as the deadline for all affiliates to confirm their membership for congress credentials.
The PEC further endorsed the following structural meetings to prepare for congress.
i. COSATU staff to meet on weekly basis and deal with all logistical arrangements for congress.
ii. COSATU Provincial Secretariat forum meeting to meet on monthly basis and deal with all administrative issues regarding the congress.
iii. The COSATU POB’s to meet at least once a month and deal with all political management of congress.
ON THE STATE INFORMATION BILL
The PEC decided to mobilise COSATU members in large numbers to attend the Public Hearings conducted by the National Council of Provinces on 23 February 2012.
The PEC mandated the POB’s to lead COSATU presentations in these public hearings and defend the COSATU position on this matter.
ON THE PROVINCIAL SHOP STEWARD COUNCIL MEETING
The PEC encouraged all affiliates to mobilise their members to attend the Provincial Shopsteward Council meeting in large numbers to be held as follows:-
Date : 8 February 2012
Venue: Sasol Club, Embalenhle
ON THE NATIONAL STRIKE AGAINST LABOUR BROKERS
The PEC received a comprehensive report on the state of readiness regarding the National strike on 7 March 2012.
The PEC then resolved to hold two protest marches at the Emalahleni municipality and the other at the Mbombela Municipality.
ON THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION
The PEC noted with regret the reports of corruption in the province.
The PEC noted that corruption is slowly destroying the moral fibre of our society.
The PEC believes that corruption steels from the poor.
The PEC appreciated the collaboration between COSATU and the SACP in the Province in fighting against corruption.
The PEC then decided that a protest march against corruption be held on 7 March 2012 at the Mbombela municipality to deliver a memorandum to the Premier of the provinces.
ON MAY DAY CELEBRATIONS
The PEC welcomed the idea of celebrating the May month as part of the ANC Centenary celebrations.
The PEC endorsed two May Day celebrations in the province at Embalenhle stadium at the Govan Mbeki Municipality and Thulamashe stadium at the Bushbuckridge municipality.
ON SOLIDARITY WITH SWAZILAND
The PEC reaffirmed the COSATU position in support of the people of Swaziland in their struggle for democracy in Swaziland.
The PEC then decided to:-
· Convene a Provincial Tribunal on Swaziland in March 2012.
· To blockade all the Swaziland border gates on the 12 April 2012 in solidarity with the working class of Swaziland.
South Africa
NUMSA dismayed at ministers’ statements on ANC’s Nationalisation Report
Irvin Jim, NUMSA General Secretary, 8 February 2012
“In our country - more than in any other part of the oppressed world - it is inconceivable for liberation to have meaning without a return of the wealth of the land to the people as a whole. It is therefore a fundamental feature of our strategy that victory must embrace more than formal political democracy. To allow the existing economic forces to retain their interests intact is to feed the root of racial supremacy and does not represent even the shadow of liberation.”
(Morogoro Conference of the ANC, meeting at Morogoro, Tanzania, 25 April - 1 May 1969)
The National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA) is extremely disturbed and dismayed by the statements made by two ANC Ministers in the Mining Indaba during the course of this week, in Cape Town.
Numsa as part of a Cosatu delegation in the ANC Economic Transformation Committee (ETC) did have the opportunity to see the Nationalisation Report last week but we were not given copies as the Report was embargoed.
We were advised that the Report would be tabled in the ANC NEC and the NEC was to define the process on how the Report was to be circulated in the branches of the ANC and to components of the Alliance for debate in preparing for the coming ANC National Policy Conference.
We find it very disturbing that the Report has been unofficially released to the media before the structures of the ANC and its Alliance could see it.
We further find it quite unfortunate that two ANC ministers have found it fit to use the Report in support of their private views against nationalisation of mines and other strategic economic sectors. As we show below, the ANC NGC in 2010 was unanimous in support of the nationalisation of mines and other strategic economic assets in the country.
Numsa takes the view that both Minister Susan Shabangu and Trevor Manuel have acted completely without any ANC mandate in deciding to speak for the ANC government and for the ANC and the Alliance that there will be no nationalization of mines and key strategic sectors in the economy. Their unilateral pronouncement goes completely against the ANC’s position which says – it is the ANC who leads government and not government leading the ANC. Numsa therefore reject with contempt their cheap manipulation of our democratic processes in the movement.
We have also noted that in the recent past right-wing global rating agencies have been doing the same in threatening our movement should nationalisation take place. These seek to make sure that there is no fundamental change in the vested Apartheid white monopoly economic interests, thus guaranteeing that black people in general and Africans in particular remain at the bottom of South Africa’s economy and society and detained forever in poverty, unemployment and inequality.
Below we restate in our view, the current and historic position of the ANC and its Alliance on this extremely important matter of nationalisation of mines and strategic economic assets of the country.
A. Nationalisation and ANC Policy
1. The basic revolutionary socio—economic programme of the ANC is the Freedom. The core tenet of the Freedom Charter states that:
“The national wealth of our country, the heritage of South Africans, shall be restored to the people; The mineral wealth beneath the soil, the Banks and monopoly industry shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole; All other industry and trade shall be controlled to assist the well-being of the people; All people shall have equal rights to trade where they choose, to manufacture and to enter all trades, crafts and professions.”
In this regard we fail to understand the constant refrain that nationalisation is the ANC policy because in our understanding the representatives of our people who gathered in Kliptown in 1955 adopted this policy position of the ANC.
2. The restoration of the wealth of the country to the people is, has been, and will always be, at the heart of the struggle to liberate all South Africans, today and tomorrow.
3. The transferring to the ownership of the people as a whole of the mineral wealth beneath the soil, the banks and monopoly industry is the basic foundation and only basis upon which lasting peace and a common nationhood can be created in South Africa.
4. To reinforce these fundamentals of the liberation struggle, the ANC at its Morogoro Conference further stated that:
“In our country - more than in any other part of the oppressed world - it is inconceivable for liberation to have meaning without a return of the wealth of the land to the people as a whole. It is therefore a fundamental feature of our strategy that victory must embrace more than formal political democracy. To allow the existing economic forces to retain their interests intact is to feed the root of racial supremacy and does not represent even the shadow of liberation.”
5. The roots of South African racial supremacy would be well nourished if the existing economic forces were to be allowed to retain their interests intact. This is a very self-evident truth. In South Africa, real poverty is black and African, and wealth is white and European.
6. In the 2010 ANC National General Council – the policy forum of the ANC – the Economic Transformation Commission reported thus:
“There was greater consensus in the commission on the nationalisation of mines and other strategic sectors of the economy. The NGC therefore mandated the NEC to ensure further work be done, including research, study tours and discussions, and to report to the Policy Conference for decision at National Conference in 2012.”
7. We have quoted the documents above to show the centrality, the revolutionary significance, of the unchanging core demand of the liberation struggle in South Africa – to return the basic wealth of the country to the people as a whole.
8. All ANC Policy and other documents have always faithfully reiterated this demand. The demand to return the wealth of the country to the people as a whole, including by transferring this wealth into the hands of the people (nationalisation) is a central and defining feature of the ANC. To deviate from this is un-ANC.
B. Revisionism, distortion and vulgarisation of the main strategic objective of the struggle for liberation in South Africa
1. The restoration of the basic wealth of the country to the people was, and still is, the essence, the reason, the strategic objective, of the struggle for liberation in South Africa. Only this could end racial supremacy and Colonialism of a Special Type (CST). Only this could guarantee peace, equality and restore the dignity of all the people of South Africa.
2. It is now clear that long before the 1994 democratic breakthrough, elements of English, Afrikaner and African elites had begun to work very hard to dilute the essence of the struggle for liberation in South Africa, by peddling a version of freedom and democracy that would allow the essential existing economic forces to retain their interests intact. Thus the new South Africa after 1994 was handed down a constitution offering democratic freedoms but in essence made private property sacred in a country in which the majority had no property – to be more precise, the country’s constitution fails to address the land stolen from our people through the 1913 Land Act!
3. Since 1994, we have seen a progressive watering down, weakening and erosion of the essential and basic revolutionary demand of the liberation struggle – the returning of the wealth of the land into the hands of the people as a whole.
4. A very dangerous revisionist tendency is one that simply re-interprets the demand in narrow legalistic and technical terms, and thus attempts to convince us that some of the reforms (charters, taxation, and BBBEE) the ANC government has put in place since 1994 amount to “transferring the wealth of the land into the hands of the people”.
5. A further equally dangerous tendency is simply to vulgarise and distort the core revolutionary demand of the liberation struggle – the demand to transfer all the major wealth of the country into the hands of the people, thus restoring the country to all its people – by simply reducing it to the question of the nationalisation of mines, and even this is further mired in financial and technical obstacles!
6. The core revolutionary demand of the freedom struggle in South Africa is very clear: The national wealth of our country, the heritage of South Africans, shall be restored to the people! It is all the “national wealth” and not just the mines, which must be restored to the people. All other industries must be subordinated to the imperative to develop the people and provide for them. This distortion seeks to diminish and conceal the other wealth which must equally be restored and transferred to the people as a whole.
7. Implicit in the demand is not just the revolutionary need to uproot racial supremacy and restore the dignity of all our people, but also a very strong anti-imperialist demand.
8. A most vulgar postulation is one that simply says after 1994, we are all free to share in the country’s wealth, and it is now each person for themselves and all the government has to do is make the country business friendly. Thus all over the country we find business and enterprise promotion NGOs and sometimes these are assisted by monopoly industries.
C. The persistence of white monopoly capitalism in South Africa, post 1994
1. Anyone with the barest minimum of knowledge about the state of the South African economy and society, 17 years after “democracy” will not fail to notice the persistence of white domination of the economy and society, notwithstanding the small sprinkling of black and African capitalists.
2. The South African economy continues to be dominated by the Minerals/Energy/Finance Complex which is largely white owned. The white population continue to in fact grow their domination of social and cultural life of the country.
3. Poverty and unemployment are largely black, and African, with African females and youths faring the worst.
4. South Africa has become the most unequal place on Earth today. At the bottom, of course are black and African people, and at the top, are white people. The facts to illustrate this are there for all to see.
5. Black and African people are condemned to inferior public sector education and health facilities, while the white population enjoys first world schools, hospitals and shopping malls. Of course the trick today is that there is no Group Areas Act and you are simply told to get on with it as an individual and make your money and you will join the white population!
6. As a result of the lamentable failure to radically restore the basic wealth of the country to the people as a whole, 11 percent of the South African School system accounts for more than 70 percent of Matric passes.
7. An average white male in South African earns anything above R19 000, 00 per month while a black male earns just about R2 400, 00!
8. Ultimately of course, the life expectance of a white person in South Africa today stands at about 70 years, while that of a black person is at 48 years – some 22 years less!
D. The struggle continues, and it is a class struggle!
1. At Numsa we are not surprised that the 2010 ANC NGC Resolutions which clearly indicated that there was consensus on nationalisation are being manipulated and shoved into the dustbin.
2. At Numsa we are not surprised that rather than investigate what the most appropriate forms of nationalisation of mines and other strategic sectors of the economic would be, the ANC Report has done everything to confirm that nationalisation of the mines would be a “disaster” for South Africa. Knowing the dominance of white monopoly capital in general and white mining and financial capital in particular, our political and social life post 1994 we did not expect anything less than this distortion of the ANC NGC Resolutions.
3. Further, we at Numsa do not think that the struggle to restore the wealth of the country to the people as a whole will ever be won via research teams and Conference Resolutions. As a working class, and industrial working class formation our experience teaches us that capital concedes nothing without a fight!
4. Thus we are not surprised that elements deployed by the ANC in government to implement ANC policies have been very busy trying to assure capitalists that government in South Africa does not belong to the ANC and that it is not government policy to nationalise! Those ANC deployees who advocated the neo liberal macro economic framework in 1996 continues to champion a failed and discredited neo liberal policy framework which stands in direct opposition to the ANC’s progressive and revolutionary agenda as contained in the Freedom Charter.
5. The people who voted this government into office suddenly do not exist. This is as it should be, as the dominant class in this country is that of white monopoly capitalists!
6. At Numsa we must serve notice to the people of this country: the black and African working class are fast losing patience at the pace at which their conditions of extreme poverty are being dealt with.
7. The success and sustainability of the 1994 democratic breakthrough in this country rests on the extent and speed of restoration of the wealth of the country to the people as a whole, including transferring the national wealth to the people. Anything less than this is a recipe for disaster.
8. At Numsa we will continue to mobilise the working class and to demand in the revolutionary alliance for the speedy implementation of the entirety of the Freedom Charter.
9. In the ANC Policy Conference Numsa will demand for the restoration of the basic wealth of the country to all the people as a whole.
10. In the National Conference of the ANC this year Numsa will demand the transferring – nationalisation – of the mines and other strategic economic sectors into the hands of the people as a whole. This is what we understand the struggle for liberation, democracy and equality in South Africa to be all about. Anything short of this is a betrayal of all our 100 years of struggle and sacrifice against racist white monopoly capitalism.
International
COSATU affiliated unions NUMSA – NEHAWU – POPCRU and CEPPWAWU host World Federation of Trade Unions Presidential Council
Castro Ngobese, NUMSA National Spokesperson,
Sizwe Pamla, NEHAWU Media & Liaison Officer,
Nkosinathi Ndwandwe, POPCRU Acting National Spokesperson,
8 February 2012
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) affiliated unions, namely National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU), Police Prisons and Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) and Chemical Energy Print Paper and Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU) will be jointly hosting the meeting of the World Federations of Trade Unions (WFTU) Presidential Council as from Thursday 9 February 2012 –until- Friday 10 February 2012 in Parktonian Hotel, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, Gauteng province.
This follows the successful hosting of the International Conference on Building a Socially-Owned Renewable Sector in South Africa organised by NUMSA which was held at Vincent Mabuyakhulu Conference Centre, Newtown, Johannesburg.
This meeting, coincides with the centenary celebrations of the leader of our alliance, the African National Congress (ANC), and solidify the historical role played by class orientated trade unions movements or federations of the world in our struggle for liberation, peoples power and socialism. This meeting of the WFTU will be attended by more than 70 trade unions formations, representing the four corners of the world, namely Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.
The current global capitalist onslaught as permeated by the global crisis of Capitalism presents a strategic opportunity for class orientated trade unions of South Africa and the world to forge close links geared towards deepening working class internationalism and solidarity. Never before has working class internationalism, universalism, more important than now.
This is the fact made possible by the very expansion of Capitalism all over the globe! The class orientated and revolutionary formations of Africa and the world need to rally and identify itself with broader struggles of the working class in other parts of the world to reverse the barbarity and decay of Capitalism!
This Presidential Council will be held under the strategic theme, “Capitalist Crisis, Barbarism or Socialism”.
Later on Wednesday 08 February 2012, a Gala Dinner was hosted by WFTU to honour prominent South African trade union and liberation movement stalwarts, such as Moses Kotane, Moses Mabhida, Lesley Masina, Michael Harmel, Eric Mtshali, JB Marks, John Nkadimeng and Nelson Mandela.
This Gala Dinner was addressed by General Secretary of the WFTU, and the ANC’s message will be delivered by ANC President Jacob Zuma via a recorded message. A number of ANC, SACP, COSATU and its affiliates were present at the Gala Dinner.
The President of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) Comrade SDUMO DLAMINI, will address the Presidential Council on Thursday 9 February 2012, at 09h15am, Parktonian Hotel, Braamfontein. The General Secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP) Comrade BLADE NZIMANDE will also do the same on Friday 10 February 2012, at 11h00am, Parktonian Hotel,
Braamfontein.
A Shop Stewards Council meeting will be held on Friday 10 February 2012, starting time 14h00pm, Recreation Centre (Behind Parktonian Hotel), Cnr Simmonds and Juta Streets, Braamfontein, Johannesburg. The speakers are General Secretaries of WFTU GEORGE MAVRIKOS, NUMSA IRVIN JIM and NEHAWU SLOVO MAJOLA.
The militant and agitated metalworkers welcome the delegates to the WFTU Presidential Council. We wish the WFTU a successful Presidential Council in our shores. The working class is awaiting its revolutionary outcomes in order to deepen the crisis!
COSATU welcomes WFTU to South Africa
Bongani Masuku, COSATU International Relations Secretary, 8 February 2012
COSATU has welcomed the Presidential Council of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), which, for the first time in its history, is being hosted in our country and continent.
The history of the WFTU is tied to our own history of struggle against apartheid and colonialism, as well as capitalism in general on our continent and throughout the world.
We congratulate our affiliates who are hosting this historic event - NUMSA, NEHAWU, POPCRU and CEPPWAWU - and wish them every success in their hosting of this important event in the calendar of working people all over the world.
COSATU continues to call for the unity of working people all over the world and will continue to demand that all trade unions work towards unity in order to build and consolidate working class power.
In taking a firm stand against the triple evils of apartheid, colonialism and capitalism, the WFTU has expressed the deepest sympathy for the suffering of most working people in the developing world, and shared the trenches in our own struggle against apartheid.
This history will be well narrated this evening when our stalwarts and veterans who benefitted from the solidarity of the WFTU are honoured. Amongst them are: Moses Kotane, Moses Mabhida, Lesley Masina, Michael Harmel, Eric Mtshali, JB Marks, John Nkadimeng and Nelson Mandela.
COSATU wishes the Presidential Council successful deliberations and hopes that it will put at the centre of its deliberations the critical question of working class unity and the struggle to defeat neo-liberalism in the era of a deepening global capitalist crisis, where humanity has confirmed even more that capitalism is not the future. An alternative is needed now and that alternative is socialism.
Announcements
The fight against the Secrecy Bill is not over!
Jayshree Pather, Right 2 Know, 9 February 2012
The National Council of Provinces has scheduled public hearings for the discussion of the Secrecy Bill. This is an opportunity to put pressure on this important house of parliament to reject the Bill in its current form. In Gauteng, the NCOP Hearings will take place on 14 February 2012 at the following venues:
• Mamelodi: Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality
Venue: Vista College Mamelodi (9am-4pm)
• Sharpeville: Sedibeng District Municipality
Venue: Sharpeville Community Hall corner Seeiso and Zwane Street (9am-4pm)
This is your opportunity to make your voice heard about the Bill. Attend the hearings to demand:
• A public interest defence clause that will protect community activists and whistleblowers
• A clause defending the Promotion of Access to Information Bill and community rights to access to information held by the state
• A commitment to a culture of transparency, social justice and community development
For more information, or to get involved, contact the Right 2 Know Gauteng Working Group Organiser, Bongani Xezwi, on 071 043 2221.
We have the right to know! Let the truth be told!
Patrick Craven (National Spokesperson)
Congress of South African Trade Unions
1-5 Leyds Cnr Biccard Streets
Braamfontein
2017
P.O.Box 1019
Johannesburg
South Africa
Tel: +27 11 339-4911/24
Fax: +27 11 339-5080 / 6940
Mobile: +27 82 821 7456
E-Mail: pat...@cosatu.org.za
